Xt660r
 

Hi guys and girls,
i am in Quagadougou in Burkina Faso and a really nice local guy has seen my working on my bike, 800GS (soorry!) and thinks i know all about bikes, hhis english is very limited.

Can anyone help with this, he cant get the front sprocket off which needs changing... any hints please would be appreciated as soon as cos i leave here tomorrow. Does it undo counter clockwise?

Many thanks for any assistance.

should be normal
 

I have not taken the front sprocket off my XT660R but the microfiche doesn't indicate that the nut is unusual in any way (it's breakerbar-time: clockwise 120Nm to tighten; or 85ftlb).

I take it you have spotted the lock-washer? Hard to miss but you never know....

by the way - there's a bike 'shop' in Ouaga that can help...

I think I included the GPS coordinates of the place on the Brighton2Capetown website...follow my signature and it should be there somewhere.

The sprocket comes off in the normal way. As edteamslr points out, it is held in place by a lock washer. Once the lock washer is off, the nut unscrews anticlockwise. Put the bike in gear and hold the rear brake on (or jam the rear wheel spokes with a broom handle or something) before you start. It is VERY tight (and needs to be). If there is a problem with working the sprocket off with the chain wrapped round it, loosen the rear axle and move the rear wheel forward as far as it will go. This will give you some slack to work with.

I replied thinking, from the thread title, that this was a query about an XT660R. If the bike is a BMW, my comments are invalid, sorry.

Thanks...
 

for the straight forward answers, will 'chat' to him tomorrow in the morning before i go... if he still looks lost, will point him in the direction of the bike shop mentioned. Sorry for any confusion, it is an XT660R that needs the sprocket changing, just mentioned in my original question that i was working on my bike, 800GS, when he approached me. Anyway, many thanks guys it is appreciated.

Hehe - very confusing. I have now re-read your original post and I think I understand. You have the Beemer, he has the XT, and he needs the advice.

Fine. Hope it gets sorted.

I've always wanted to go to Ougadougou, just for the name :)

I had problems with my front sprocket before. I find this method handy:

1. Tie a rag around the chain. Top of sprocket chain if loosening counter clockwise, and bottom if loosening clockwise.
2. Start to loosen the sprocket with the gear in neutral until the rag has been fed into the sprocket and jammed it up.
3. Grab a breaker bar and loosen the nut since it should be stationary at this point.

Same process for tightening it too.

Hope this helps.

An airgun and socket can be the best way to remove the front sprocket, if available. An impact driver and socket will also work. Make sure bike is in gear first. it may give a very scary loud bang as it releases. Cheers Andy

What, shoot it?

:thumbup1:

For next time, you can get electrical "air guns" basicly an oversized screwdriver with "Knocking" function.

I really dont know wht it's called in english, it cant be translated directly from Danish =)

I could get the front sprocket free from my little dt175, even with a guy standing on the brake, and with a large wrech with an extender on it.

But the electric "airgun" did the job in a second or two.

The correct name is an air impact wrench. The common term is a 'rattle gun', from the sound it makes :)

Oops! Didn't read properly. The electric ones are called, surprisingly, electric impact wrenches.

'Rattle gun' covers both devices.